The Kronicles of Korthlundian
by Jamie Marchant
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GENRE: Epic Fantasy
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BLURB:
“Magic,
love, hate, torture, heroes, and a story that will never stop blowing your
mind!” Cheree~For Love of Books
The three volumes of
The Kronicles of Korthlundia plus The Ghost in Exile: A Korthlundian Kronicle
brought together for one low price. In addition to the novels, the collection
features several bonus short stories, previously available only to members of
my readers’ club.
The Goddess’s
Choice--In a world where the corrupt church hides the truth about magic, the
fate of the joined kingdom falls on the shoulders of two young people from
opposite ends of the social hierarchy.
Crown Princess
Samantha’s life begins to fall apart when she starts seeing strange colors
around her potential suitors. She fears that she’s going insane--or worse that
she’s defying the Goddess’s will. Robrek is a lowly farm boy with incredible
magical powers. He has been biding his time waiting to get revenge on those who
call him a demon.
Thrown together by
chance, they must overcome their differences to fight their common enemy Duke
Argblutal, who, with dark magic, is slowly poisoning the king’s mind and
turning him against his own daughter. Time is running out for those chosen by
the Goddess to prevent the power mad duke from usurping the throne and plunging
the joined kingdoms into civil war.
The Soul Stone-- A
match made by the goddess is threatened by an Ancient Evil.
As Samantha and
Robrek prepare for their marriage and coronation, they are met with opposition
on all sides. Not all believe that the peasant sorcerer is worthy to be king,
and the young couple must perform delicate political maneuvers to prevent the
joined kingdoms from breaking apart.
As the church splits
over opposition to their union, an unseen force is poised to release an ancient
evil that was last defeated a thousand years ago. When the Soul Stone is broken
free of its bonds, all life in its path succumbs to its power. How much will the
new royal couple have to sacrifice to free the joined kingdoms of its evil?
The Ghost in Exile—A
special Kronicle outside of the series that tells the story of Darhour. The
novel takes place at the same time as The Soul Stone. The Ghost is going to
hell. Not even the goddess can forgive his sins: assassin, oath-breaker,
traitor (an affair with the queen earned him that title). No one can ever learn
the princess is his daughter. To keep this secret, he flees to the land that
turned him from a simple stable groom into an infamous killer.
His mission now? To
find evildoers and take them to hell with him. But when an impulsive act of
heroism saddles him with a damsel who refuses to be distressed, her resilience
forces him to question why he really ran from his daughter.
The Shattered
Throne-- Queen Samantha’s spirit brightens as the festival of renewal
approaches. The Ancient Evil that drained life from the land has been
destroyed, and life is returning to the joined kingdoms. The birth of her heir
gives her even more reason to celebrate. But a coup orchestrated by the
unlikely alliance between a freedom-loving count and a fanatical church
shatters both her plans and the ancient throne itself.
With her infant
daughter missing and death and destruction spreading, Samantha finds herself
faced with an impossible choice: save her daughter or her people. Already torn
between a mother’s love and her duties as a queen, Samantha learns that an even
greater danger threatens: the goddess herself is fading. What sacrifices will
Samantha have to make to stop an evil god from taking Sulis’s place?
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EXCERPT:
As The Ghost entered Ares’s temple, an oppressive presence
settled over him. He seemed to be alone in the huge sanctuary, but he knew the
acolytes of Ares watched through hidden panels. Rumors claimed they waited for
someone with signs of weakness to enter. Then they would pour forth, seize the
unfortunate, and sacrifice him to their god. The Ghost had found no evidence to
support such rumors, but he knew that animals and criminals were regularly
sacrificed on Ares’s altar, bleeding out their lives into the bowl at the foot
of his statue. It was a hard death, both the blood and the pain feeding the
magic of Ares’s priests.
The Ghost knelt at Ares’s feet, where the stench of blood
was nearly overpowering. The altar was stained with it, and the bowl at the
god’s feet was full from a fresh sacrifice. The power present in this place was
undeniable—dark and forbidding, far from the peace and serenity in Sulis’s
temples. But he was no longer worthy of Sulis’s blessing. The Ghost drew his
dagger, held his left forearm over the sacrificial bowl, and sliced a new cut
alongside his numerous scars. As he bled into the bowl, he felt the magic of
the place coalesce around him. His blood sizzled as it hit the bowl, and the
wound on his arm healed instantly, signaling that The Ghost truly belonged to
the Saloynan god.
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1) You’re marooned on a small island with one person and
one item of your choice—who is that person and what item do you have?
I know it’s sappy and
predictable, but the person I’d choose is my husband. The item is more difficult,
but I believe I would choose a good-sized sharp knife. There are so many things
you can do with a knife: you can cut branches and vines to weave into a
shelter, you can defend yourself, you can use it with a rock to start a fire; you
can kill small prey or even bigger prey if you mount the knife on a pole and
make it a spear. At least, my husband can do all of those things with a knife.
I write stories and teach college. When it comes to survival skills, I’m practically
useless, thus the reason for choosing my
husband as the person. Besides that, he’s cute, and we’ve been together a long
time.
2) Take these three words and give me a 100 word or less
scene using them: hammer, saucer, traffic lights
April Bennett sat on her
front porch drinking her morning tea. Her house stood on a corner with a
traffic light, giving her more leisure to observe passersby who frequently had
to wait for the light to change. She sighed; nothing new ever occurred.
Suddenly, she sat her teacup down on the saucer. Why was she waiting for
something interesting to happen when she come make it happen instead? Looking
around, she spotted the hammer the workman who repaired her door the previous
day had left. She grabbed the hammer and headed into the street. Today would be
different.
3) When you start a new story, do you begin with a character,
or a plot?
All my work starts first
with the characters. For me to enjoy a book, I have to care about the
characters in the story. If I don’t care about them, I don’t care what happens
to them. You people your world with interesting people, and they will direct
the plot.
4) If they were to make the story of your life into a
movie, who should play you?
First, they shouldn’t make
the story of my life into a movie. It would be a very boring movie. If someone
wants to make a movie, they should base it on my books, not my life. But if
someone were so unwise as to try to film my life, I’d go with Shelly Long. I’ve
occasionally been told I look a bit like her.
5) Who’s your favorite horror villain and why?
I’m not a big fan of horror.
But if you’re going to make me choose, I’ll go with Jack Torrance from The
Shining. Jack, like me, is a writer, and I can identify with the frustration
that comes from writer’s block. Turning that frustration into murderous rage is
a bit over the top, but I do get where he’s coming from.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Jamie began
writing stories about the man from Mars when she was six, and she never
remembers wanting to be anything other than a writer. Everyone told her she
needed a back up plan, so she pursued a Ph.D. in American literature, which she
received in 1998. She started teaching writing and literature at Auburn
University. One day in the midst of writing a piece of literary criticism, she
realized she’d put her true passion on the backburner and neglected her muse.
The literary article went into the trash, and she began the book that was to
become The Goddess’s Choice, which was published in April 2012. Her other
novels include The Soul Stone, The Ghost in Exile, The Shattered Throne, and
The Bull Riding Witch. In addition, she has published a novella, Demons in the
Big Easy, and a collection of short stories, Blood Cursed and Other Tales of
the Fantastic. Her short fiction has also appeared in the anthologies Urban
Fantasy, Of Dragons & Magic: Tales of the Lost Worlds, and Waiting for a
Kiss. She claims she writes about the fantastic . . . and the tortured soul.
Her poor characters have hard lives. She lives in Auburn, Alabama, with her
husband and five cats, which (or so she’s been told) officially makes her a cat
lady. She still teaches writing and
literature at Auburn University. She is the mother of a grown son.
Buy Link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082S5J8RR
Email:
jamie-marchant@jamie-marchant.com
Website/Blog:
http://jamie-marchant.com/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jamie-Marchant-Author/164706710298768
Twitter:
@JamieMarchantSF
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Thanks for sharing your book and I enjoyed getting to know about it. Thanks as well for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteWho is your favorite author still currently writing?
ReplyDeleteI'll give two replies to this question. If we're talking literary fiction, Toni Morrison. If we're talking fantasy fiction, Jim Butcher. Anxiously awaiting the release of his new book.
DeleteThanks for hosting me. I love interacting with readers. I'll be checking back throughout the day if anyone has any questions.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a very good book.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great cover.
ReplyDelete